“Bluster and Bullying v. Arsenal,” by author Timothy Trainer
June 2, 2025: No, this is not a new lawsuit, although that would be appropriate given that Trump is a party to this. Every day seems to provide us with a new episode in the Trump-created global trade war against everybody. Today’s headlines include a New York Times article: U.S. Dependence on China for Rare Earth Magnets Is Causing Shortages – The New York Times. And a Reuters headline the same morning read China Rejects Trump’s Accusation That It Breached Geneva Trade Deal.
Americans should bypass the blame game of whether the U.S. or China breached the May tariff truce “agreement.” A more substantive issue arises from the current chaos. Several days ago, Reuters had the following headline: China’s Magnet Curbs Risk Halting Indian Car Production – Industry Documents: China’s magnet curbs risk halting Indian car production – industry documents | Reuters.
China’s dominant position regarding rare earth minerals and their availability to the world market is a powerful economic weapon. China’s ability to turn off the spigot to these products gives it significant global control. The New York Times article notes that “Carmakers need the magnets for the electric motors that run brakes, steering and fuel injectors. The motors in a single luxury car seat, for example, use as many as 12 magnets:” U.S. Dependence on China for Rare Earth Magnets Is Causing Shortages – The New York Times. In the same article, one industry consultant stated that the U.S. auto industry could stall. Beyond the auto industry, other industries are also reliant on China’s supply of rare earth minerals.
The crucial underlying question that we should be asking is this: Is anyone in a responsible position in our government was willing to raise his or her voice and sound the alarm to warn the very highest office holders about the U.S.’s vulnerability if China took the step of shutting off access to rare earth minerals, including these magnets, that are needed in so many industries? Who at the Defense, Transportation, State, or Commerce Departments spoke up? Or did everyone cower in the corner afraid of being shouted down or fired?
While the first Trump term and the beginning of this second term have underscored Trump’s need to rant, accuse and demean, the question that seems to have been answered is that no one within Trump’s inner circle is capable, willing or desirous of any semblance of normality and building a relationship based on trust and reliability with any of our trading partners. Indeed, they appear to have surrendered and contributed to what they believe is a wonderful way to proceed in a chaos-oriented approach to global economic affairs.
For the American public, the serious question is the strength and qualitative depth of the arsenal available to our trade adversaries to impose greater economic pain on the United States. Trump and his appointees can stand before the cameras all day every day and tout their actions to bring back jobs, or that we will be rebuilding our capacity for these rare earth minerals, but they won’t say that this will take years to relieve the U.S. of its dependency on China. China, on the other hand, is able and willing to impose real economic pain today, tomorrow and through the coming months.
The people of both the U.S. and China are enduring economic pain from this trade war. What Americans should expect and demand is that those who have chosen to engage in this economic battle get real about the economic weapons in China’ arsenal to wage this economic warfare and what the U.S. has to counter them. If, however, we have initiated a trade war without assessing our vulnerabilities and without the “generals” willing to risk their positions to speak honestly to Trump and the American people, we are adrift.
Standing before a gaggle of reporters to be photographed and quoted making blustery statements won’t be enough for the U.S. to “win”. What we should all hope for is that those waging this global economic war in the name of the U.S. understand that compromises will be necessary because of the interdependence of a global economy we helped to construct.
About the Timothy Trainer: Writing books is a passion for attorney Timothy Trainer, who for more than three decades focused on intellectual property issues in his day job. He has worked in government agencies and in the private sector and his assignments have taken him to 60 countries around the world.
Tim found time to pen a few non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2022. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff.
Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2019, Pendulum Over the Pacific, was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains.
In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection.
In 2025, he published the sequel, The China Factor, which ranked #63 on the Amazon Asian Literature list in May.
Learn more about this book and Tim’s writing process when he’s interviewed by author Jeffrey James Higgins’ for his new Inkandescent podcast and video show: Elaine’s Literary Salon.
Learn about Tim’s work and books: timothytrainer.com
